Visual Thinking by Temple Grandin

VISUAL THINKING by Temple Grandin is subtitled “The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions.” The best-selling author and speaker explores those issues as well as the many reasons to more actively encourage visual thinking skills. Grandin will be discussing her new book – in person and via Zoom – this Thursday, October 20 at Evanston High School during a program sponsored by Family Action Network. Details are here.  She is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and has written extensively about animals and about neurodiversity; her memoir, Thinking in Pictures, was made into an award winning film. In this new text, Grandin contrasts those who think primarily verbally with visual thinkers, themselves further sub-divided into spatial (abstract patterns) and object (pictures/images) visualizers. Verbal thinkers tend to be more linear in their thought process while Grandin argues that visual thinkers are more associative and that society and our economy would benefit from valuing their technical skills more highly. Roughly thirty percent of the book includes references from researchers, behavioral scientists, engineers, social commentators, entrepreneurs, and educators. Look for VISUAL THINKING on the Library shelves and add what is sure to be a fascinating talk to your calendar now! 

Related text: Fixed by Amy E. Herman.

Get it Done by Ayelet Fishbach

GET IT DONE by Ayelet Fishbach offers “Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation.” To address this topic, Fishbach draws on her professional experience as the Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and as the past president of the Society for the Study of Motivation. In order to better help her readers identify and effectively achieve the right goals, she breaks the book into four parts: Choose your Goal; Keep Pulling; Competing Goals; and Social Support. Each of those contains several chapters (“Put a Number on It,” “Incentives Matter”) with end of chapter questions for readers to ask themselves.  Fishbach acknowledges the impact of the pandemic, saying, “Like most people, I worry, get distracted, and struggle to stay motivated.” She maintains a generally positive, coach-like tone, and further notes that “getting anywhere, as well as sustaining the things you cherish in life, requires a great deal of pulling [motivation].” At school, we have certainly worked to address the difficulties our students have faced with maintaining momentum. This issue was echoed in Michael Luca’s recent Wall Street Journal review where he wrote, “had I read GET IT DONE when I was a struggling student, the path to where I am now might have been a lot smoother.” Perhaps Fishbach will also craft a version aimed specifically at young adults, similar to Covey’s adaptation, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens?

Professor Fishbach will be speaking (via Zoom) on Tuesday, January 18 at 7:00pm for an event sponsored by Family Action Network (FAN); I am looking forward to that talk especially after seeing the number of positive comments regarding GET IT DONE from authors like Adam Grant, Carol Dweck, and Angela Duckworth.